Supply chains are under increasing pressure to deliver efficiency and resilience. Economic, geopolitical, and environmental pressures are increasing risk of disruption, creating delays, and driving up prices. At the same time, labour shortages are hitting the logistics sector especially hard, creating serious pain points for organisations relying on road freight, rail, and shipping alike.
This is leading more supply chain operators to streamline their supply chains in order to maximise efficiency using intermodal transportation.
What is intermodal transportation?
Intermodal transportation is any logistical journey that uses two or more types of transportation to move goods through a supply chain. The most common type of intermodal transportation utilises road, rail, and ship transport to move goods over long distances. Intermodal transportation is especially common in the “last mile” of delivery, where goods might be transferred from a plane or train to trucks on their way to a final destination.
The benefits of intermodal transportation
Intermodality in the logistics chain helps organisations balance cost, speed, and resilience in their supply chains. Recently, intermodality has been used as a key driver of improved sustainability in logistics chains as well.
The technique is nothing new; organisations have been using multiple methods of transportation to shift goods throughout supply chains for centuries. Just because stagecoaches and sailing ships have been replaced by HGVs and cargo planes (and might still be replaced by self-driving robo-trucks and, uh, we’re going back to sailing ships again?) doesn’t mean that the process isn’t useful. It also doesn’t mean it hasn’t been improved.
Modern intermodal shipping is powered by standardisation across the logistics chain. Goods are transported using specialised, standardised steel containers. This makes them both easier to handle and able to be quickly transferred from one mode of transportation to another without unpacking and repacking the goods inside.
Intermodality isn’t always the best option. It’s up to supply chain managers to balance environmental impact, speed, cost, and reliability. Shorter journeys, for example, can be made using just one mode of transport. Using intermodality in a case like this would only increase time to delivery. However, road transport is typically a more polluting option than using a freight train. Even over short distances, an intermodal approach can be useful if sustainability is your highest priority.
Harnessed correctly, intermodal transportation can be a key enabler of logistics excellence. This is especially important at a time when these systems are feeling increased pressure from multiple angles.
- Collaboration & Optimization
- Sourcing & Procurement
